Tractor drive-wheel and mounting for same.



"0. w. JOHNSON.

TRACTOR DRIVE WHEEL AND MOUNTING FOR SRME.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.29.19I6.

00 1 L m d an u. W t a \J,

5| n wanton 0' 6705 n 6071- O. W. JOHNSON.

TRACTOR DRIVE WHEEL AND MOUNTING FOR SAME.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29. 1916.

1,219,323.. I v Patenied Mar. 13, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2-- i 5 25 I I anuch l oz 0'. w. IOHNSON. TRACTOR DRIVE WHEEL AND MOUNTING FOR SVME. APPLICATIQN HLED'VIAR. 29. I916.

1 .2 1 9 323 Patented Mar; 13, 1917,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WU I Q tractors filed by me August 10,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

omvnn w. aonnson;

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVERW.-JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State "of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tractor Drive- Wheels and Mountings for Same, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the driving wheels of tractors and has for its object the provision of a light and strong wheel which will. permit the tractor to travel close to the ground and which. will operate efiiciently to. utilize the power of the engine to propel the tractor. The present application includes subject-matter originally shown, described and claimed in an application for patent on 1915, Serial No. 44,805. a

The present invention seeks to provide a driving wheel. which will be effectually closed against the entrance of mud or other foreign matter which w dead weight of the machine, and also seeks to provide a driving wheel which w ll be so mounted upon a stationary or fixed axle that the machine may accommodate itself to torsional strains encountered during its travel and whiclrtend to twist or bend the axle or cause warping of the wheel.

An bject of the invention is to provide a novel bearing for the wheel which will not bind but will work freely at all times notwithstanding bending of the axle or the wheel.

The invention also seeks to prbvide a drive ing wheel which may be readily assembled with its bearings and easily fitted-to the axle or carrying rod.

The inventionis illustrated in the accom' panying drawings and will be hereinafter fully described and particularly claimed.

In the drawings,-

Figure 1 is an elevation of a driving wheel embodying my present invention;

Fig; 2 is a longitudinal section of the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the bearing or mounting for the wheel;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail 'section showing the connection of the brake band the wheel; v

5 is a transversesection through the bearing;

Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the conould increase the' OF CLEVELAND, OH IO.

Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

Application filed latch 29, 1918.. Serial No. 87,60 5.

"struction whereby the shell of the wheel is connected to the he ad of the same;

Figs 7 and 8 are elevations respectively of the inner and outer sides of the inner circular late or head which carries the hearing. or the wheel;

in the present drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates an ax e, shaft or rod which issecurad rigidly in he frame of the tractor transversely 0. th 0 same and upon which the driving wheels are mounted. Ordinarily a pair of driving wheels is provided for the tractor and each wheel consists of a cylindrical shell 2 formed from a metal plate rolled into iubular form and having its abuttinglends welded together? Within .the ends 01 this cylindrical shell are inserted head members 3 which consist of circular plates having central openings and provided with annular flanges or ribs 4 at the r outer edges, the said ribs or flanges fittmgusnugly within the ends of the shell 2 and being secured thereto by rivets, as indicated most clearly at 5 in Fig. 6. Upon the outer surface of the shell 2, I secure a plurality of .ribs 8 which. are arranged in two series, each series extending around the Fig; 1.

' ithin the central opening ofthe head or end plate 3, I lit an inner head or disk 7 which consists of a circular plate having a stopped or dishel formation whereby an outer portion 8' (f the plate may fit close against and be se :ured to the outer face of the head 3 and ti e outer edge )ortion 9 of the plate will be spaced slight y from the jsaid head 3. Upcn the inner surface of the fportion 8 of this inner head or plate 7 are ribs or bosses 10 against which the inner annular edge of the head 3 may rest and suitable openings are provided above the said 'ribsor projections, as shown at 11, to receive rivetsor bolts by which the members 7 are secured to the her ds 3. Upon the outer face of the inner-heads 7 are formed radial ribs orlreinforcement; 12 which extend to the outer edge of the said head and are laterally enlarged neaif their outer extremities, as shown at 13, to provide circular bosses surroundiflg and def ning openings through the flange l head which receive rivets whdreby the brake drum 14 or the sprocket wheel 15 may be socured to the head. The inner central ortion of the disk, plate or-inner head is offset or projected inwardly, as shown at 16, to provide a hub member or collar having a radial inwardly projecting annular flange or stop shoulder 17 and having a concave inner surface, as shown at 18. To the outer face of the central portion of the head 7, I secure anouter hub member or collar 19 which has a flangeor shoulder 20, corresponding in all respects -'to the'shoulder or 21 which, $111601 the members are secured together, forms a continuation of the concave surface 18. Within this hub portion, consisting of the members 16 and 19, is fitted a bearing'c'asin comprising mating members 22 and23 w ich are secured together by bolts or rivets 25 inserted through annular ribs 2 l,as shown-. The casing members 22 v and 23 {as provided at the outer edges of their ribs 24 with laterally extending head or rim members 26 having convex outer surfaces-conforming in curvature to and fitting against the concave surfaces 18 and 21 of the hub members, but the combined width of the members 26 is less than the. distance between the flanges 17 and 20 so that the driving wheel will be permitted to oscillate upon the said rim members.26 n 1til the,

shoulder 17 or 20 impinges agains ttlie outer edge ofthe adjacent rim mcmber the eenter of curvature of the said concave and convex surfaces being at the center of the rod or stationary axle 1'. Byjhis arrangement and construction I aim-enabled to overcome the lateral torsional strains to which the tractor is subjected when in use and thereby avoid binding- ;oifthe, wheel in the event of the axle or dhy part of the wheel being bent. The members 22-23 are provided at their centers with annular recesses 27 in their, inner faces and in the saidreewsesis fitted. a spacingfin 28 by which anti-frie tion rollers 29ers eld in spaced relation around the axle or shaft 1. These rollers 29 are housedwithinlaterally elongated ortions 30 of the casing members 22-23 w ich elongated portionsare axiall alined and tog'ether form ,a sleeve or 'hu inclosinggthg axle and the bearing rollers. At the ends 0 the sleeve thus rovided are annulan radial flanges .31 whic receive the 'end thrust of i the rollers 29 and prevent thesame moving longitudinally of the axle and esca ing from the casing, In the ends of the s eeve at the outer -facesof the flanges 31' are fiber washers- 32 which serve to retain lubricant in the bearing sleeve and are heldin place by caps 33 secured to the members; as clearly shown and-as will be readily understood. An oil-"duct 34 is provided in the outer bearing member 23 to fa nd tilde-having a concave surface ends of the sleeve cilitate the supplying of lubricant to the spacing ring 28 and the rollers 29.

It is thought that the advantages of my improved driving wheel will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. Power is applied to the wheel throught the sprocket wheel or gear 15' and the travel of the wheel may be arrested when desired. by the application of a brake band to the brake drum 14. The construction disclosed herein permits me to use a very thin shell or cylinder for the wheel inasmuch as the ends of the shell are entirely closed and no mud, dirt or stones can work into the interior of the drum to add to the dead weight of the machine. The construction of the heads or ends of the wheel together with the provision of the ribs (3 upon the periphery of the wheel so tl'ioroughly rcinforces the structure that exceedingly thin and light material may be employed so that the weight of the wheels may be very materially reduced below the wcightof to a bending of the axle under torsional strains and permit the wheels to run freely and without any binding although the thin heads or she'll may be bent or warped. The construction and arrangement of the parts aresirnple and the wheels may be manufactured at a cost which is not prohibitive of their general adoption. The collar formed by the members 16 and 19 permits oscillation of the wheel in the vertical plane of the axle and also permits the wheel to rotate about the casing oi the roller bearing should there be a sudden w plic'ation of the power or a sudden \1CIB2IS" in the load or strain. Breakage of the p .Wentransmitting chains or other parts of the gearing is thereby avoided, and the binding ordinarily caused by'wvarping or bending of the material is overcome. I

In assembling the wheel, the ribs are first secured upon the shell and the stop lugs between the ribs also fastened in place, the

rivets for the outer ends oi the ribs being temporarily withheld. The heads 3 are then .put in place and secured by rivets, some of the rivets also passing through and securing the outer ends of the ribs.

The roller bearing and its casing may be fitted provides a space between the same and the ead or end plate 3 to accommodate the heads of the rivets or bolts by which the driving gear or the brake band is secured in place. A particular advantage of the present invention lies in the fact that exceedingly thin material may be used for the cylindrical shell and the heads secured in the ends of the same. The ends are so efiectually reinforced by the parts surrounding the bearing and the rim onshell so efi'ectually reinforced by the ribs thereon, that I have reduced the weight of the wheel to nearly one-half the weight of the wheels now ordinarily used.

Having thus described the invention,

What is claimed as new is:

1. A driving wheel for tractors consisting of a cylindrical shell, heads secured in the ends of said shell, and bearings at the centers of said heads having rotatable engagement with an axle and provided each with an annular extension to fit close to the inner periphery of the head and rock across the plane thereof. E2. Ina driving wheel for tractors, the combination of a cylindrical shell, end

plates secured in the ends of the said shell j and having central openings, heads secured to said end plates and fitting within said central. openings, and bearings mounted centrally in said heads to rotate about an axle, the heads and the bearings having relative rocking movement across the planes of the heads.

3. In a driving wheel for tractors, the

\ combination of a cylindrical shell, heads I secured in the ends of the shell and provided at their centers with axially extended hub members, a casing fitting within said hub members to oscillate axially therein and having central laterally extending sleeves, and bearings within said sleeves to rotate about an axle.

4. In a driving wheel for tractors, the combination of a cylindrical shell, end plates secured in the ends of said shell, heads secured tosaid end plates and having hub-members projecting axially through the centers of the same, a bearing casing carried bysaid hub members and mounted to oscillate therein, and bearing rollers carried by said casing to encircle anaxle. 5. In a tractor, the combination of a rigid axle,

axle and having offset portions. at their disks mounted for rotation, upon the outer edges, heads secured to said disks adjacent said ofl'set' portions, operating members secured to said, ofl'set portions, and cylindrical shells seemed to theouter edges of said heads.

6. The combinai ion of an axle, disks mounted for rotation upon the axleand having offset portions it their outer edges, end

plates secured to said disks adjacent said ofi'set portions, optrating members secured to said offset portions of the disks, and cylindrical shells secired to the outer edges of said end plates, the disks being'provided at their inner edgus with axially disposed ljiearing portions constructed to rotate about and oscillate on a hub. f

7. The combination of a rigid axle, hearing sleeves fittedu] on said 21308 and having annular projections provided with laterally expanded outer bearing portions convex in cross; section, concave annular flanges fitting uponzsaid convex portions, disksex tending'from said flanges, heads sech red to said disks and cyh ndrical shells secured to said headsf 8. A driving wheelconsisting of a thin cylindrical shell, thin end lates secured rigidly in the ends of said S el heads secured to said end plates and extending in wardly through tlu central openingsof said end plates, and a b :aring mounted centrally.

in each of said heads and adapted to fit around an axle, said bearing belng free to rotate in the radial plane of the head and have a. limited oscillatory movement in the axial plane thereof.

9. A traction wheel consisting ofia cylindrical shell, annular end plates secured rigidly in the ends 01 the shell, heads secured to said end plates and having oflset portions projecting through the central openings of the same and tern. inating in hub'members having concave inner surfaces and stops at the innenedges of said surfaces,mating' hubmembers secured to the outer fac'ejsfof said offset portionsv and having concaveinner surfaces and stops at the outer edges of said surfaces, alined bearing sleeves extending axially through the. hub members and having annultrv ribs at their "meeting ends and provided at the outer edges" oi" said ribs with riir members fittin wifthin the said mating hu) members, and astening devices inserted through said ribs..

Inftestimon whereof I afiix m signature. OLIVl R V7. JOHNSQl [15s.]; 

